About

The Malaria Genomic Epidemiology Network (MalariaGEN) is an international community of researchers working to understand how genetic variation in humans, Plasmodium parasites, and Anopheles mosquitoes affects the biology and epidemiology of malaria, and using this knowledge to develop more effective ways to control the disease.

How MalariaGEN works

MalariaGEN is a scientific network that connects researchers and clinicians in malaria-endemic countries with cutting-edge DNA sequencing technologies and genomic research.

Through a number of multi-centre projects, we provide a framework for generating, integrating and sharing genetic and genomic data, and for investigating key questions about malaria biology and epidemiology. Learn more about how genomics can help to defeat malaria.

Our scientific goals are to:

Characterise genetic and evolutionary processes that contribute to insecticide resistance in mosquitoes

Lead large genome-wide association studies in diverse human populations to understand how people naturally resist malaria

Investigate how genetic variation effects interactions between people and parasites, and parasites and mosquitoes

Develop practical applications for public health, for example real-time surveillance of genetic changes in natural populations as a part of routine epidemiological monitoring, and integrating genetic and genomic data into mathematical models

It’s nearly impossible to address the scientific questions that we want to answer about malaria with a relatively small amount of data. MalariaGEN brings so many groups together, so that the data that we collect complements each other and enables comparisons in different settings, under different transmission conditions and so on.